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A Lesson in Volunteering: Reading to Cats

Volunteering with kids is easy when you encourage your child to snuggle up with a furry friend and share a book, reading at your local ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation).

On a sunny Saturday morning, the children each grabbed a book and headed for the car.

Our mission was simple… to read to cats.

I know that sounds strange but this is just another way we are teaching our kids about volunteering.

The night before, I was texting with a friend and told her that I would be busy because the kids were volunteering to read to cats.

Her reply was hilarious.

Um.
Speechless over here.
Or rather WHAT IN THE HE**?

Obviously, I had some explaining to do but the concept is very simple.

ARF reading program volunteers

The ARF Reading Program is a literacy initiative that encourages children to read to the animals awaiting permanent homes.

The interaction benefits the child and the animal.

When a child is hesitant to read out loud, you may not know the difficulties he is experiencing.

“I’ll just read in my head, Mom,” can mean the child is not completely confident in his ability to pronounce words. But, when you seat him with a furry friend and he starts to read…

The cat starts to rub against the book and purr.

He reaches out his hand to stroke the cat and relaxes. The words come off the pages of his book more easily.

Cats do not critique your intonation. They do not correct you when you fail to pause for punctuation. Instead, they curl up beside you and nudge your hand as if to say, “You are doing a purr-fect job.”

But the child is also learning an important lesson about serving the community by volunteering.

Animal shelter donations

On the morning of our volunteer project, our first stop was Walmart because ARF always accepts donations and the children had $100 to spend on gifts for the cats.

About Tabitha

Hi! I'm Tabitha! But I bet you expected someone named "Penny." Long story made short, Penny is the coupon binder I started when our family committed to living a frugal lifestyle in 2010. Yes, with four children in the house, we have to watch our budget, and I'm not always great at being a good steward. But, I'm hoping that by visiting me here at Meet Penny, you will learn from my mistakes as we strive to raise a family with sense on cents.

Comments

What a fun way to volunteer. All of our cats have been rescue cats. One way we’ve volunteered before at the animal shelter was to foster a set of kittens. The mother was too ferrel to raise them so they had to be hand raised. We ended up keeping two of them. Nobody asked if we allowed our cats outside because there are way too many unwanted animals around here (due to lack of spaying and neutering) and they are just happy to not have to put them down.

I volunteer an average of 20 hours per week at a shelter, and your response to not being allowed to adopt because you let your cats outside really bothers me. It comes across, at least to me, as quite sarcastic. We have the same policy at our shelter, and the reason for it is the health and safety of the cat. Outdoor cats can be exposed to disease, insects, parasites, poisons, larger predators, and cars, just to name a few. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends that cats be kept inside, as do the ASPCA and the HSUS. Cats who stay inside live an average of 2-3 years longer than indoor/outdoor cats, and the average lifespan of an exclusively outdoor cat is 2-5 years. Cats also kill, on average, one animal for every 17 hours they are outside.

So there is a reason we don’t adopt cats out to homes where they will be allowed to go outside. A whole lot of them, actually, and it would be nice if you would maybe at least find out what they are before you make negative assertions about policies you don’t understand.